TRENTON — A top state psychologist who was fired after allegedly having an affair with a sex offender patient surrendered her license to practice today, records show.

The consent agreement, which described the allegations as "boundary violations," allows psychologist Natalie Barone to avoid a public hearing for now. However, the State Board of Psychological Examiners could still decide to investigate the case.

Barone, 37, was previously responsible for about 100 staff members providing treatment to 426 civilly committed sex offenders, currently housed at two Avenel facilities. The Department of Human Services fired her on April 30 after an internal investigation.

Barone has appealed her firing and denied any wrongdoing. However, during proceedings involving her psychology license, she did not formally respond to allegations of an affair with sex offender Michael Bordo, a former patient.

Barone’s attorney, Jack Furlong, said she didn’t attempt "to prove a negative" because she left New Jersey and doesn’t need her license here anymore.

In a telephone interview with The Star-Ledger, Bordo described his relationship with Barone as progressing from professional to personal, then becoming explicitly sexual after he was released.

He said she warned him not to discuss their relationship.

"She said, ‘If you ever repeat any of this, who’s going to believe you? You’re a rapist and I’m the director of psychology,’" Bordo said.

Furlong dismissed Bordo’s statements.

"I know sex offenders who are highly credible. Michael Bordo isn’t one of them," he said. "He’s trying to shift blame for his own misconduct."

Bordo pleaded guilty in 1996 to aggravated criminal sexual contact in the assaults of two teenage girls. He said he started one-on-one counseling with Barone at the Special Treatment Unit Annex in Avenel to prepare for his court-ordered release.

"On the days she was going to be with me, she would dress really provocatively," Bordo said. "There were even comments made by other staff and officers."

After Bordo was released on June 3, 2009, the pair began to rendezvous in hotel rooms, he said. An internal investigation began last summer when an off-duty corrections officer spotted Barone and Bordo walking down a Jersey Shore boardwalk, according to three state officials with knowledge of the case.

Days later, Bordo said, Barone told him they had to stop seeing each other.

"She called me crying from work," Bordo said. "She said someone had pictures of us."

Barone became a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania two days before being fired in New Jersey. But she could face sanctions there because of the disciplinary action here, said Kevin Murphy, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Bordo was arrested on Aug. 3, 2009 on charges of marijuana possession and driving without a valid license. The charges were dropped, but he has been re-committed at the annex. He said staff members there are scornful and his required therapy hasn’t been fair.

"If I’m not in a group setting, they hardly say a word to me," he said. "They believe that I made Natalie a victim, that I pursued her instead of her pursuing me."